Risch should recuse

April 26, 2017

Appearing on last Sunday’s morning news show hosted by the local NBC affiliate, Idaho’s junior senator showed himself yet again to be the most strident of partisans. James Risch, who is a member of the Senate Committees on Foreign Relations and Intelligence, embarrassed himself fawning over Trump’s international escapades. “America is back,” he crowed.

Really, Senator?

What about Trump lying about – or not knowing – the whereabouts of the “armada” he sent to provoke his North Korean counterpart? Certainly, that did little to instill confidence in our Asian allies.

What about his declaration that NATO was obsolete? Oh, never mind, that was just a rhetorical frolic during the campaign.

What about the utter hypocrisy of bombing Syria to punish Assad for the inhumanity of using toxic gas on his own citizens, while he himself would sentence desperate refugees to death by banning their entry into our country?

What about Trump’s much-touted border wall that treats our neighbor to the south as though all of its people are pariahs?

What about Trump’s total ignorance of history and diplomacy that leads him to declare in astonishment that Chinese-North Korean relations are “complicated.” Who knew?

What about Trump’s desire to blithely walk away from crucial international agreements, like the Iranian nuclear deal and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change?

And what about Trump’s gushing tributes to strong men in Russia and Turkey while refusing to so much as shake the hand of Germany’s Angela Merkel?

Examples of Trump’s utter incompetence in foreign affairs abound. Yet, Risch, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, loudly sings his praises.

No, Senator, America is not “back,” because we have a money grubbing, saber-rattling, know-nothing bully in the White House. If anything, America is “back,” because hundreds of thousands of Americans are resisting Trump’s bellicose, divisive rhetoric and his bumbling, truly dangerous agenda.

Even more troubling is the fact that Risch is a member of the Intelligence Committee, which is investigating the extent to which Russia meddled in our election and whether Trump and his team were complicit. Methinks a Trump lackey like Risch will not be fair or impartial, that he will decide Trump is in the clear no matter the evidence to the contrary. And, increasingly, it’s looking like there will be a mountain of evidence to the contrary.

If America is “back,” it is because even in ruby red Idaho ever more people are coming to understand that “leaders” like Risch are not leaders at all, but followers, timid souls who grovel before the likes of Trump. It’s time Trump’s fanboy recuse himself from the Senate Intelligence Committee’s investigation. Sadly, we can’t trust Risch to put country before party.